Habitus: A Novel - Hardcover

Flint, James

3.26

68 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312245459 ISBN 13: 9780312245450

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 2000

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

A woman born in an asylum, a son of Hasidic Jews, and a mathematical genius find their lives converging in a brief but earth-shattering encounter that will leave the woman pregnant with a very unusual child.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

In 1973, affection-starved Jennifer Several takes two lovers: Judd Axelrod, shy prepubescent son of a Hollywood starlet, and Joel Kluge, an ex-Hasidic math genius. As Judd becomes a supernaturally gifted gambler, escaping the bungling of his psychoanalyst, Joel's search for meaning leads him to create a computerized golem, to repair the world of evil. Meanwhile, in Jennifer's womb a genetic anomaly takes root--a child bearing the DNA of its two fathers. Above them all circles the serenely conscious figure of Laika, first dog in space, feeding on the outpourings of the digital age.

Habitus teems with ideas. As if in mimicry of the global village, we spark from one location to another, as the author boldly captures their essence: L.A., Cambridge, Stratford-upon-Avon, even Dachau and Sobibor. The prose leads stimulating forays into a wealth of disparate subjects, deftly illuminating their connections. There's a smattering of kabbalah, some advanced mathematics, even a tract on gambling. Unfortunately, this often occurs at the expense of story. Complex scientific segues frequently force us to disengage and switch drives from "audience" to "student," just as we begin to care about Flint's characters. A book with humor and heart, certainly, but one slightly too concerned about proving its cleverness. --Matthew Baylis, Amazon.co.uk

From the Publisher:

This astonishingly inventive first novel is in part a satire on the digital age, in part a surreal comedy iwth a fantastical cast of absurd characters and some brilliant writing." The Observer (London)

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.